Universal upward-pressure contact-arm



(No Mo-delJ' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. G. J. VANDEPO'ELE.

UNIVERSAL UPWARD PRESSURE CONTACT ARM. No. 402,117. I Patented Apr.23,188

" wmu 35 M a; Charles J? YanDepoeZe 13 'VOe 01114011 I?Photfl-Lilbogmphor. Wabhingioh. D. (L

(No Model.)

, f 3 sheet -sheet 2'. 0'. VAN DEPOELE. v UNIVERSAL UPWARD PRESSURECONTACT ARM.

Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

' (Nd Model.) 3 Sheet SeSheet 3.

I C. JL'VAN' DEPOHLE.

UNIVERSAL UPWARD PRESSURE GONTAUT ARM.

No. 402,117. Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

N. PETERS. Photo-Lithographer. Washington. 0.6.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

UNIVERSAL UPWARD-PRES SURE CONTACT-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,117, dated April23, 1889.

* Application filed February 19, 1889- Serial No. 300,396. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inUniversal Up-. ward-Pressure Contact-Arms, of which the following is adescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to electric railwaysof that class in which theelectric current is conducted from the generator along the line of wayby an overhead conductor and supplied to the motor upon. the car orother vehicle by moving contact devices carried by the vehicle andengaging the under side of the overhead conductor.

The-present invention appertains more particularly to the devices forestablishing a moving electric connection between said overheadconductors and the motor on the car, and has for its obj ecttheobviating of various difficulties which now exist in the use of theso-called upward pressure contactarms.

As'these arms are now made and supported upon the top of the vehicles,no perfect provision has been made for their automatic retraction,either in case any obstacle-such as the branch of a tree-should occur inthe path of movement, or in case (as frequently happens where the trackpasses under a bridge) the conductor dips to within a few inches of thetop of the car, and contact-arms are constantly broken or damaged forlack of such provision.

-My invention therefore has for its object, primarily, the constructionof a contact-arm which shall automatically yield to and pass ordinaryobstructions without injury.

A further object is to provide a support for the contact-arm which shallbe adapted to tilt bodily or reduce the arm under extraordinary strain,as upon becoming detached from theconductor, when the contact-carryingdevice would assume an upright position, and that the onward travel ofthe car be brought violently in contact with any stationary objectextending across the track-as, for example, a cross-wire and bridge, orthe likewhich would be almost certain to seriously damage, if notdestroy, the contact-supporting apparatus. My safety device will,however, under such conditions release the arm or its support and allowthe entire structure to tilt over backward upon the roof of the car.

A still further object is to provide such a support for the contact-armthat it shall have, in addition to its backward and forward and verticalmovements, a slight lateral movement, whereby it may be brought intore-engagement with the conductor after disengagement therefrom.

The invention also comprises an extensible arm or frame extendingbetween the top of the car and the conductor and carrying at its highestpoint the contact-trolley, said arm or frame being operative from eitherdirection, thereby dispensing with the necessity for reversing thetrolley-arm or turning the car around when the direction of movement ofthe car is to be changed.

Finally, the invention consists in the various details of constructionand arrangement of parts, whereby I am enabled to accomplish the desiredobjects in a simple and effective manner.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a car provided withcontact devices' embodying my invention. the contact-arm and supportingdevices in side elevation. Fig. 3 is an end view of what is illustratedin Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is aplan view of the tilting support for thecontactrarm. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a somewhat different form ofmy invention. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the modification, showingthe means for laterally moving the contact-arm. Fig. 7 is a detail,partly in section, showing one of the members of the contact-supportingdevice shown in Fig. 6. Fig.8 is'a cross-section of Fig. '7 on line 8 8thereof. Fig. 9 is an elevation, partly in section, showing pivotal andsupporting points of a different form of Fig. 2 shows contact-carryingarm to which my safety dethe contact-carrying device is supported. 0

is the suspended conductor supplying the current to the motor or motorsupon the car A.

One form of my improved contact-carrying device is shown in Figs. 1,2,and 3. As there seen, it consists of a pair of arms, D D, havingforked or bifurcated upper extremities, between which is pivotallysustained upon any desired style of journal-bearing a grooved metalliccontactrwheel, O, the extremities of the arms D D being pivotallyconnected by the axis of the contact-wheel. The lower ends of the arms DD are pivotally united to the upper ends of a second pair of arms, E E.As a desirable construction the arms E E are made up of two thintapering metal pieces or bars, a b, which may be inclined outward towardtheir lower extremities to give greater stiffness, and are united atintervals by blocks e, secured between the side pieces, a b, by rivetsor bolts passing therethrough. Obviously the arms E E might beconstructed of solid metal or of tapering tubes. The upper extremitiesof the arms E E are bent inward at the point where the arms D D arepivoted thereto, in order that when said arms D are forced down, as bythe lowering of the plane of the suspended conductor, they may inextreme cases lie parallel with the arms E E, which, when constructed inthat position, occupy the smallest possible space.

The lower extremities of the arms E are connected by means ofintermeshing gearteeth formed upon the adjacent peripheries of twopivoted disks, F F, supported upon a shaft, f, mounted upon a standard,G, on the roof of the car. The arms E E being mechanically united by thegears upon the disks F, the structure formed by the armsD D and E E willopen and close to raise or lower the contact-wheel O and constitute afour-armed pivoted frame sustaining a contact device moving in averticalplane. The contact device is normally pressed upward against the underside of the suspended conductor by the upward tendency of the pivotedarms imparted by batteries of tension springs H H, secured upon eachside of the lower portions of the arms E E, and desirably composed of aplurality of springs, g h, connected at either end to crosspieces h g,which are pivotally connected to projections H upon either side of thesaid arms E. The action of the tension-sprin gs H is to draw the arms EE together, thereby closing and elongating the frame and elevating thecontact device. The tension of said springs should therefore be inproportion to the weight and length of the arms DD E E, so as to keepthe contact always pressed up against the under side of the conductor,and at the same time be capable of extension to a point which will admitof the wheel being depressed until the arms assume substantiallyparallel horizontal positions. It is desirable that when depressed toits lowest possible point the axis of the contact-wheel or lateralprojections attachedthereto rest upon the upperparts of the tensionsprings H H, so that when rcleased, as by elevation of the plane of theconductor, the said springs will impart to the contact-wheel an initialupward movement sufficient to enable them to exert their normal actionupon the arms E E. Where this arrangement is undesirable, however, oneor more buffer-springs, i, may be attached to the arm or arms E for thepurpose of raising the contact-wheel and arms D D to a point where thesprings H H can act.

Near the upper end of each arm D is attached a fender-spring, I, saidsprings extending to a point slightly below the horizontal diameter ofthe contact-wheel to guide any obstacle over the wheel. For example, thefender-springs will act to prevent the conductor from being caughtbetween the wheel and its axial support in case it were displaced fromthe peripheral groove in said wheel.

In connection with the fender-springs and the general construction ofthe conductorsupporting frame, it will be apparent that in case thecontact-wheel were detached from the conductor and consequently elevatedto its highest point, if any upper portion of one of the arms D wouldcome in contact with an obstacle-such as a cross-wirethe said arm wouldbe depressed and pass safely thereunder, the mechanical connectionbetween the arms E E imparting to the several parts of the frame asimilar movement. This action refers, however, only to obstaclesstriking the contact-carrying device at or near its upper portion andwith a similar decrease of force. Should the contact become detached, ifthe car were running at a high rate of speed, the collision of thecontact-supporting frame with an obstacle would usually result in itsdestruction. To obviate this diiiiculty, I therefore provide, as aseparate feature of invention, a support for said frame, which, underdangerous pressure, will tilt and permit the frame to fall bodilyrearward, and thus pass the obstruction without injury. This device Ihave called a tilting standard My improved standard G, for supportingthe upward-pressure contact-arm, is seen in Figs. '2, 3, and 4. Thisstandard comprises two brackets, and Z, secured upon the top of the carabout two feet distant, according to the size and weight ofthe parts tobe sustained. One of these brackets, It, has two ears, Z l m m,extending from each end thereof, between each two of which ears arepivoted rods J J, free at their opposite ends and having pairs of ears1% n- 0 0 formed thereon, between each pair of which is pivoted one ofthe forks of an arched tilting frame, K. The second bracket, Z, has onlyone pair of cars formed thereon, between which is pivoted at one end arod, L, similar in all respects to rods J J, and having at one end cars19 p, between which is pivoted the unforked end of the frame K.Projecting upward from said frame K are suitable lugs, q q, formingbearing's for the ends of a rocking shaft, f, having two pairs of carsextending upward therefrom, between each pair of which. is placed one ofthe gears F F, before referred to, a suitable pin passing through saidears and gears serving as an axis therefor. It will be seen thatby thisconstruction, Whenever an obstaclegreater than the weight of the partsis 'met with in. the movement of the contactcarrying frame, the frame Kwill be tilted f as described the contact-arm may have any desiredlateral movement, suitable means being provided to limit the extentthereof.

Lateral movement of the frame is brought about and controlled by meansof the system of ropes and pulleys shown in Figs. 1, 3, and

6. Ropes O O are attached at one end to the point where the arms D D arepivoted together, from which point they diverge laterally, passing underdouble pulleys r r on opposite sides of the frame and suitably mountedon'the top of the car. At this point the ropes separate into two parts,PP, one part passing to one end of the car and the other to the oppositeend, within reach of the operator. This construction affords means forlowering the contactby pulling both ropes at once and for shifting thecontact-arm laterally to either sideto bring it into engagement with theconductor by pulling uponone rope or the other.

:By releasing both ropes the contact will be permitted to rise intoengagement with the conductor orto assume any desired position. In Fig.5 I have shown a different form of my invention. In this figure theupwardpressure contact device is composed of two members, each membercomposed of a lower part, E, made hollowjfor containing a suitablespring, 3, and an upper part, D, adapted to move within the lower partand kept norfmally extended by the spring 3. The parts D D of eachmember are pivoted together by the axisof the contact wheel in the man-'ner before mentioned, and the contact-wheel is supported thereby.

Each part E is rigidly attached at its lower end to a wheel, F, pivotedin a suitable standard, M ,which in turn is pivoted to suitablestandards, 70, secured upon the top of the car, thus giving lateralmovement thereto. The wheels F F are connected together by ropes Q Q,each of which is attached to the upper portion of the periphery of oneof the wheels F andthe lower portion of the opposite wheel F, thuscrossing each other at the point marked as. The lower portions of theperiphery of these wheels are still further connectedby aspring-connection, R, supported bya standard, V, sa d spring-connectionconsisting of-short ropes u a, attached at one end to the wheels F F,their opposite ends being united by a spring, 1), the tension of whichis adjustable by means of an ordinary turn-buckle, w. I Wish it to beunderstood that I do not limit myself to this particular form ofspring-connection, as any suitable device may be substituted therefor. Ialso place upon the upper part of the arm D a fender-spring, asexplained.

If desired, I may, as shown in Fig. 6, provide short telescopic sections0 in the telescope D in order to take up shocks which are very slight.

The method of operation of this form of my invention is similar to thatheretofore referred to. When an obstacle is encountered in the path ofmovement of the connecting device, or when the conductor dips, one ofthe members will'be forced down, and, through the medium of theconnecting-ropes Q Q acting upon the other member, and the downwardmovement of said members, the telescopic end sections, D D, will beforced in against the pressure of the springs s, and thecontact-supporting frame will be depressed to the necessary extent. Whenthe strain is taken off, the spring-connection R will force upward theparts E Eof the different members, and at the same time the springs swill force out the telescopic sections.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a form of connection between the lower part, E,and the telescopic section D. It consists of a clamp, S, made in twoparts riveted together, having an opening through the center 'of thesame form in cross-section as the telescoping section, provided, also,with small anti-friction wheels y y, loose on the rivets, securing theparts of the clamp together, whereby the said section is properly guidedand the contactwheel prevented'from twisting sidewise.

In Fig. 6 is shown a form of device similar to that shown in Fig. 5, asfar as the telescoping members are concerned, but differing in manner ofsupport.

The spring-connection between the lower parts of the members E E isdispensed with, said parts being pivoted at their lower ends to acasting, 2, which is pivoted to a standard, T, so as to have thenecessary lateral movement. This lateral movement is, as pointed out,for the purpose of allowing manipulation ofthe contact-wheel from adistance, and the same system of ropes and pulleys is used for impartingthe desired motion. There being no spring-connection between the lowerparts of the members of this connecting device, it is obvious that, incase of pressure suificient to force the arm down to a horizontalposition on top of the car, the telescopic end sections would act indirect opposition to each other, .and hence the contact-wheel would notbe automatically returned to its position against the under side of thecon ductor. In order to obviate this difficulty, I place upon the top ofthe car asuitablebuffer or spring to limit the downward movement of thearms, in order that they may not reach the dead-level, and with thisprovision the springs connected to the telescopic sections are amplysuflicient to return the arms to their upright position.

I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the tiltingstandard shown and described in combination with any particular form ofupward-pressure contact device, as it is equally applicable to manyother forms thereof. For example, in Fig. 9 is seen the lower part ofthe contact-carrying arm and its supportingstandard, as shown anddescribed, for instance, in Patent No. 394,037, granted to me December4,1888. The contact-carrying arm is supported upon a standard, R, to thelower portion of which is secured a disk or grooved piece of metal, a".The disk 1'' is pivotally sustained between the forks of a bifurcatedstandard, T, mounted upon the top of the car in any suitable manner. Aspring detent or catch, 1., is secured upon the extremity of a pivotedlever, t, provided at its outer extremity with an adj usting-screw, Thedetent 25 is pyramid or cone shaped, and is adapted to engage a recessin the under side of the disk r,where it .is held with any desireddegree of pressure sufficient to maintain its hold and sustain thestandard R in a vertical position under the strain of ordinary work.\Vhen, however, the standard R or contact-arm should receive a blow, asby striking an obstruction in its path, the detentt will be forced outof the recess in the disk 1-, and the contact devices supported upon thestandard R, together with said standard, be permitted to fall overbackward, turning upon the axis of the disk 2'. The detent-supportinglever 25 maybe of spring metal and the pressure of the detentz beadjusted by a screw, F. The lever 6 may also, however, be quite rigidand the pressure of the detent determined by an adjustabletension-spring placed about the adj ustingscrew 19. A slightly-differentform of detent device is seen in Fig. 10, in which a vertically-actingdetent, i is substituted for the detent f and sustaining-lever 75.

As shown in Fig. 10, an adjustable spring, 5 is coiled about the detentfor holding it in engagement with the notch in the disk 2' with thedesired degree of pressure.

A modified form of safety device is seen in Fig. 11,where the standard Ris mounted upon a post,R ,which base is contained within a suitablerecess or between side pieces, R, formed in or secured upon the top ofthe vehicle, to which the devices are applied, the base R being held inits position by springs R R extending over the front and rearextremities thereof, which springs are of such strength that they willordinarily sustain the contact devices in position, but which will yieldsufliciently to allow the base R together with the standard andcontact-arm,to be forced out of position on meeting an obstacle, whichwould otherwise damage or destroy the contact de- Vices. Further, I donot limit myself to the exact constructions herein shown, since manyminor modifications may be made therein by persons skilled in the artwithout departing from either the spirit or the nature of the invention.

I'Iaving described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. In electric railways, the combination, with the suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, of a contact-carrying devicesuitably supported upon the vehicle and comprising extensible memberspivotally connected at their upper ends and provided with a contactdevice, substantially as described.

2. In electric railways, the combination, with the suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, of a contact-carrying devicesuitably supported upon the vehicle and comprising extensible memberspivotally connected at their upper ends, and a contactwheel upon theaxis of said pivotal connection, substantially as described.

3. In electric railways, the combination, with the suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, of a contact-carrying devicesuitably supported upon the vehicle and comprising extensible memberspivotally connected at their upper ends and provided with a contactdevice, and a tension-spring secured between the lower portions of saidmembers for inclining the members toward each other and elevating thecontact device, substantially as described.

4. In electric railways, in combination with a suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, a contactrcarrying device betweenthe same, comprising extensible members pivotally connected at theirupper ends and having a contact-wheel thereon, said members beingsuitably supported upon the vehicle, substantially as described.

5. In electric railways, in combination with a suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, a contact-carrying device betweenthe same, comprising extensible members supported by the car and pivotedtogether at their upper ends, and having a contact-wheel thereon and aspring-connection between the lower portions of said members for drawingthe members together and elevating the contact, substantially asdescribed.

6. In electric railways, in combination with a suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, a contact-carrying device betweenthe same, comprising upper members pivoted together at one end andsustaining a contactwheel, lower members supported by the car andpivoted to the upper members, and a springconnection between the saidlower members, substantially as described.

7. In electric railways, in combination with a suspended conductor and amoving vehicle, a contact-carrying device extending between the vehicleand the conductor, and a tilting standard supporting the contact devicewhen stantially as described.

8. Infelectric railways, in combination with a suspended conductor and amoving vehicle, a contact-carrying device extending between the vehicleand the conductor, and a tilting standard upon which the contact deviceis supported and is laterally movable, substantially as described.

9. In electric railways, in combination with a suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle having a standard, acontact-carrying device between the same, comprising extensible memberscarrying at their upper ends a contact-wheel and at theirlower endsbeing pivoted toswing longitudinally on a suitable support, said supportbeing pivoted to swing laterally on said standard, substantially asdescribed.

10. In electric railways, in combination with a suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, a contact-carrying device carriedby the vehicle and comprising extensible members carrying at theirupperends a contactwheel for engaging the under side of the conductor andpivoted at their lower ends to swing longitudinally on a suitablesupport, said support being pivoted to swing laterally, substantially asdescribed.

11. In electric railways, in combination with a suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, a contact-carrying device carriedby the vehicle and comprising extensible members carrying at their upperends a contactwheel'for engaging the under side of the conductor andpivoted at their lower ends to swing longitudinally on a suitablesupport,

said support being pivoted to swing laterally,

and ropes connected to or near to the axis of the contact device andextending obliquely downward therefrom and passing to the ends of thevehicle, whereby vertical and lateral movement maybe imparted to thecontactmaking device, substantially as described.

12. In combination with a suspended sup-'- ply-conductor and a movingvehicle having a standard thereon, a contact-carrying device between thesame, comprising extensible members carrying a contact-wheel at theirupper united ends and pivoted at their lower ends to swinglongitudinally on'a suitable support, said support being pivoted toswing laterally on the standard, and ropes connected to the pivotalpoint of the extensible members and e to swing laterally upon passing tothe ends of the vehicle, whereby vertical and lateral movement may beimparted to the contact-making device, substantially as described.

13. In electric railways, in combination with a suspendedsupply-conductor and a moving vehicle, a tilting standard thereon, anextensible contact-carrying frame carrying at its upper end a contactwheel pivotally connected to said tilting standard at its lowerport-ion, substantially as described.

14:. In combination with a suspended supply-conductor and a movingvehicle, a tilting standard thereon, an extensible contactrmaking devicebetween the same, carrying at its upper end a contact-wheel and at itslower end pivoted to swing longitudinally upon a suitable support, saidsupport being pivoted thetilting standard, substantially as described.

15. In combination with a suspended supply-conductor and a movingvehicle, a contact-carrying device comprising upper members pivotedtogether at their upper ends, and having a contact-wheel thereon, lowermembers pivoted to said upper members and secured at their lower ends toengaging gears pivoted on a suitable support, whereby movement of onemember is imparted to the other, and a spring-connection between saidlower members, substantially as described.

16. In the described contact-making device, having upper and lowermembers, the spring connection for said lower members, consisting of aplurality of parallel springs attached at opposite endsto piecespivotally connected to the lower members, scribed.

17. The herein-described tilting standard for contactcarrying devices,consisting of cared brackets arranged at a suitable distance apart,links pivoted at one end to one of the brackets, a link pivoted at oneend to the free ends of the links and at'the other end upon the free endof the link, and a support for' the contact device pivoted upon saidforked lever, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE.

Witnesses:

FBANKLAND 'JANNUS, JOHN W. SIMs.

substantially as de-

